This invention relates to a motion limiting supportive device, and more particularly, to a single die-cut piece of high-tensile, comformable elastic adhesive tape that will effectively limit a particular motion of certain body joint.
For years, athletic teams especially on the professional and collegiate levels, have employed specially trained professional trainers to apply supportive joint strapping on injured athletes, or athletes who have formerly had problems with joint injuries, for example, ankle injuries. This practice was performed as a treatment and as a preventive step that would provide support for weak joints, i.e., ankles, wrists, etc. On the high school level, many schools could not afford to provide the services of such a trainer, so they would have the coach or the team doctor perform such a service. In this case, many of the coaches and doctors had no special training in the techniques of supportive joint strapping. In either event, the procedure was a lengthy one, with long lines of athletes waiting to be "strapped up" prior to their daily practices and workouts, becoming a rather common occurrence.
Many prior art attempts have been made to provide a supportive joint strapping that would be quicker and easier to apply, while still providing effective support at an economical price. Traditionally, adhesive tape has been used for this purpose and it is still the first choice since the alternatives have been lacking in many respects. However, even adhesive tape has many disadvantages; for example, the number of cuts that must be made, the number of overlapping wraps that must be used, and the amount of special training that the person performing the service must possess. U.S. Pat. No. 3,050,053 describes an orthopedic support having a stretchable limb or joint encircling member and a plurality of non-stretchable straps or tapes which project outwardly from the member in a predetermined angular pattern for binding the limb in a specific manner. This particular support is, however, a complicated array of individual straps which could be applied in the wrong manner by a non-professional; it cannot be adopted for use on any other joint without major modifications; the useful life of the support is severly limited by loss of tack and adhesion in the adhesive straps; and such a device is comparatively costly to produce. Further, this support cannot be applied specifically, but rather, its application limits ankle inversion, eversion and plantar flexion.
Another prior art attempt at providing a joint support is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,073,305, wherein an elastic sleeve which is stretchable in the circumferential direction and which has an upper ankle receiving portion and a lower foot receiving portion separated by a slit through which the heel can project. A plurality of stays and loops are provided on the sleeve for orienting the support and maintaining same by passing the stays through the loops and securing them in position thereon. Once again, this device is cumbersome to work with, and relatively expensive to use, as well as not providing much comfort to the athlete who must then put his or her shoes or sneakers thereover. Also, there is no adhesive provided thereon with which to hold the unit to a limb, therefore, the ankle may slip within the elastic sleeve.
Still another, and earlier, prior art device is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 991,831. However, this device was designed primarily for comfort, and did not provide the support needed by athletes competing in modern athletic programs today. Many other attempts have been made to obtain a simple, efficient, economical and compact means for providing a supportive motion limiting device, but, until now, no satisfactory device has been found.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an adhesive backed, disposable motion limiting supportive device that has no stretch in its linear direction thereby facilitating the limiting of specific joint motion, while still providing comfort and conformability without constriction as a result of the widthwise stretch characteristic of the device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a joint supportive wrap that can be effectively applied by persons not specially trained in the traditional techniques of supportive joint strapping, and to be a time saving device to those who are so trained, such as professional athletic trainers.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a motion limiting supportive device that can advantageously be adapted for use on many joints of the human body and can control anatomical joint motion in both the vertical and horizontal planes.
A further object of the instant invention is to provide a single, continuous piece of high-tensile, comfortable elastic adhesive tape that is cut in such a manner as to facilitate the easy and effective application of the device on bodily joints.